Age, Generations & Tech

More than half of U.S. teens say it would be difficult for them to give up social media. 36% say they spend too much time on social media.

Roughly half of U.S. adults say they have listened to a podcast in the past year, including one-in-five who report listening at least a few times a week. Most podcast listeners say this experience includes hearing news, which they largely expect to be mostly accurate. Large shares of listeners say they turn to podcasts for entertainment, learning or having something to listen to while doing something else.

A majority of U.S. parents are keeping a watchful eye on what their teens do on social media; some are also imposing screen time restrictions.

Nearly half of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online, with physical appearance being seen as a relatively common reason why. Older teen girls are especially likely to report being targeted by online abuse overall and because of their appearance.

Majorities of teens credit social media with strengthening their friendships and providing support while also noting the emotionally charged side of these platforms.

A majority of teens say a welcoming, safe online environment is more important than people being able to speak their minds freely online.

The landscape of social media is ever-changing, especially among teens who often are on the leading edge of this space. A new survey of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 finds that TikTok has established itself as one of the top online platforms for U.S. teens, while the share of teens who use Facebook has fallen sharply.

A majority of teens prefer in-person over virtual or hybrid learning. Hispanic and lower-income teens are particularly likely to fear they’ve fallen behind in school due to COVID-19 disruptions.

In April 2021, we followed up with many of the same parents surveyed in March 2020 on their children’s use of technology and social media.

The share of Americans who say they often get news from a podcast is quite small, at just 7%; 16% of adults say they sometimes do.